


Making a Move

by E350tb



Series: Unauthorised Tales from the Titanic [9]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: F/M, Panic Attacks, RMS Titanic, Titanic AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-28
Updated: 2019-04-28
Packaged: 2020-02-09 09:44:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,521
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18635647
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/E350tb/pseuds/E350tb
Summary: Sadie decides to approach the mysterious passenger.Based on CaptainJZH's excellent 'Everything In The World Was Standing Still.'





	Making a Move

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Everything In The World Was Standing Still](https://archiveofourown.org/works/15479709) by [CaptainJZH](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainJZH/pseuds/CaptainJZH). 



> Guess who forgot to post this lol

**Making A Move**

_3rd Class Promenade Deck_  
RMS Titanic  
14th April 1912

After talking herself up all day to build the courage necessary to start a conversation with the mystery passenger, it had taken Sadie a whole day to actually find him.

It was almost noon - she had gone up for air on the promenade on C-Deck, and found him leaning over the railing, staring out to sea. There weren’t many people around at this time; most were down at services for Sunday, which Sadie had skipped, not out of any specific irreligiosity but because she wanted to make use of the rare quiet time.

As her eyes fell to Lars, she noticed something peculiar - a scar ran down the back of his head, from just under his hairline by his right ear to the base of his neck. It was faded but still noticeable, and for a dark moment, she speculated where it might have come from.

Slowly, she began to approach him, wincing when her steps clunked on the wooden deck. Before she could reach the railing, Lars spoke up.

“Don’t ask about the scar.”

Sadie bit her lip, gingerly placing her hands on the rail.

“I wasn’t going to.”

Lars glanced down at her for a moment, then turned right back to the sea. He exhaled through his nose, eyes closed.

“What do you want?” he asked.

“I just… I guess I just wanted to say hi,” replied Sadie, “I mean, I… you seemed _lonely_ , I guess, and…”

“Maybe I like being alone,” said Lars pointedly.

Sadie looked away, biting her lip.

Lars sighed.

“Lars Barriga,” he said at last.

Sadie turned back, smiling ever so slightly.

“Sadie Miller.”

She offered her hand.

* * *

“That kid over there.”

Lars and Sadie were sitting on a bench, casually people-watching. Sadie looked up, following his finger to a young girl with her parents.

“She’s been hanging out with this other kid from First,” continued Lars, “I think she thinks nobody notices.”

“The kid with the curly hair?” mused Sadie, “I’ve seen him around a few times. He seems sweet.”

“Ugh, he’d probably drive me nuts,” grumbled Lars, “I’ve never been good with kids. They’re just… I don’t have the energy.”

Sadie nodded.

“Well, I’ve always liked ‘em,” she said, “Course, you had to back in Beamish. You couldn’t really hide from all the miners’ kids, or the railwaymen's’ kids. Really nice bunch - sometimes you had to drag ‘em out of places they shouldn’t be.”

“I worked on a railway once,” Lars mumbled, looking up at the sky.

“Really? Which one?” asked Sadie.

“Ah, you know… one back out east,” replied Lars, “It was… not fun.”

Sadie nodded.

“Speaking of trains, though,” said Lars, pointing to two short women comparing notes, “Those two? Those two won’t shut up about ‘em. I don’t know what a C1 or an E6 is, and frankly I don’t wanna know-”

“Oh, a C1? That’s an Atlantic. They run those south of me, on the Great Northern,” said Sadie, “Kinda overrated, if I’m totally…”

She trailed off as she realised Lars was staring at her.

“Uh… um… _shoot_.”

Lars shook his head and chuckled.

“Must be nice to have something to get excited about,” he said, “I don’t have anything like that. Never really had time.”

“You’ve gotta have something,” replied Sadie, “Like, do you like, uh, reading or…”

“I can’t read.”

Sadie bit her lip.

Lars sighed, rubbing the back of his head.

“Baking,” he admitted, “I like baking. But don’t tell anyone, okay?”

“Well what’s wrong with baking?” asked Sadie.

“It’s just… not… I dunno, I guess it’s just not…”

Lars blushed and looked away.

“Can we talk about something else?”

Sadie nodded, and they returned to people watching.

* * *

The sun was starting to go down, and they had run out of people to watch - for the most part, anyway. Sadie had sat contentedly on the seat, taking in the sea air, when she noticed Lars looking at something.

There was a man at the edge of the Second Class Promenade, which was a little odd, because he was dressed for First. He was dressed in a smart blue uniform with gold trim and was speaking to what looked like one of the ship’s officers - neither paid any particular heed to the few passengers left on the C-Deck Promenade, but Sadie found that Lars was staring at him, his lips thin.

“Who’s he?” she asked.

“US Army,” replied Lars.

“Oh, I think I read that there was a… Major Butt on board?”

“I don’t care who he is,” muttered Lars, “Just _what_ he is.”

Sadie said nothing, so he continued.

“I wouldn’t be here,” he said darkly, “if it wasn’t for them.”

He leaned forward, his hands clutching his knees.

“We thought they’d get rid of the Spanish,” he continued, “but they just _replaced_ them. They burned everything, they forced me from my home, they…”

Sadie glanced from Major Butt (still in conversation with the officer), then back to Lars - the young man was pale, his breathing unsteady. The uniform, it seemed, had triggered a reaction in him, and she feared he was about to have a panic attack.

“You, uh, you wanna go inside?” she asked.

Lars nodded wordlessly, and Sadie led him inside, towards the general room at the stern of the ship. For just a moment, the Major looked down, and she caught his eye for a fleeting second - he nodded slightly and turned back to his conversation. It all seemed so innocuous - but to have created such a response…

Sadie shook her head. She’d speculate later. Right now, Lars needed her.

* * *

Lars sat by the window, still shaking slightly as he gazed pointedly outwards. The sun had gone down, and all that he could see was his face reflected in the glass.

“I can’t stand ‘em,” he whispered. “I know it’s stupid, but I can’t. I can’t stand uniforms.”

“There’s nothing wrong with that,” replied Sadie.

“Isn’t there?” demanded Lars. “It’s… you’re not supposed to panic when you see a soldier, Sadie! It’s not _normal!_ It’s… it’s neurosis or something, and you’re not supposed to have…”

“They burned down your home,” said Sadie. “It’s okay to have a reaction to that. It’s… it’s _completely_ normal.”

Lars swallowed, rubbing the back of his head.

“It’s not just that,” he admitted. “This scar? That was a cossack soldier - apparently I wasn’t working hard enough. The scar on my eye? I got bombed in Bosnia. I got a rifle butt to the face in Vienna and pistol-whipped in Paris and… and _why is it always me?!_ And why can’t I just suck it up?!”

Sadie extended her hands. Slowly, gently, Lars took them, exhaling as he felt her softly squeeze them.

“Back when I was six,” she explained, “another kid dared me to climb up the coaling hopper. I think I got halfway up, then I lost my grip and fell - if I hadn’t landed in one of the coal trucks, they said I might’ve broken my neck or something.”

She swallowed sharply.

“Ever since then,” she continued, “I just… can’t do heights. Just thinking about ‘em, just… but that’s normal, because of what happened to me. I can’t stand being high up, you can’t stand uniforms. It’s just… what we are, you know?”

Lars nodded, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath.

“You want to talk about something else?” he asked.

Sadie smiled.

“Yeah.”

Lars smirked.

“Were you the one I saw staring at that engineer a couple of days ago?”

Sadie’s face turned bright red.

“I-uh-um-I… uh, no, no, I was just, uh…”

Lars laughed as Sadie stammered, and despite herself, she joined in.

* * *

“I had a lot of fun today, Lars.”

Sadie and Lars were back outside now, their breath faintly visible in the cold night air. They were still holding hands, but it was time to part - his cabin was on G Deck, her’s on F (and both were shared.) It was late enough as it was - Lars had been stifling yawns for the last half hour, as much as he tried to hide it.

“Yeah,” nodded Lars. “Me too… I, uh, I mean, it was _okay_ …”

Sadie chuckled.

“Will I see you tomorrow?” she asked.

“If that engineer doesn’t swoop you up,” replied Lars.

They chuckled - then, slowly, Lars leaned down.

“I, uh, I really… I really did enjoy having you around, though,” he said.

Sadie nodded, blushing.

“Yeah,” she replied, “Me… me too.”

They seemed to lean into each other, the world around them fading as they looked into each other’s eyes…

Lars cleared his throat.

“I, uh, I gotta go,” he said, leaning back out, “I’ll see you at breakfast tomorrow?”

Sadie smiled.

“I’d like that, yeah,” she replied, “See you there.”

Lars winked, did a strange pointing motion with his hands, and walked off towards the stairs, leaving Sadie alone. The short woman sighed, closing her eyes and grinning as she took in the crisp night air.

And as if congratulating her on her beautiful new friendship, the sound of three bells broke the silence.


End file.
